Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (28 comments)
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Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium

Friday, March 14, 2003 - 07:57 AM

Patent Pending has been on hiatus for a while, but that's all ending soon, as it says farewell to Modern Tales (goodbye, Modern Tales!) and nestles into its new home here in the Goats Premium section. This was a friendly and mutual decision between Joey and I, and I think we're both happy with the resolution. We're still big fans of MT and we hope to remain active in the MT family in other ways. We just felt that Patent Pending's natural home was here with us. Hopefully you'll agree.

Anyway, I'll post more details as I have them; hopefully we'll have the transition to our site and a new strip completed by early next month.

Incarnadine
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You're an Evil, Evil man, Jon. (Score: 2, Funny)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 08:56 AM (#4424)
Sigh. Guess I'm going to have to stop procrastinating and finally pony up the bucks for my premium membership.

-Incarnadine
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misere
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2, Intriguing)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 09:05 AM (#4425)
Will the comics already on Modern Tales be transferred over, or will this be the home of only new comics?
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jon
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 09:45 AM (#4429)
In Response to misere (#4425):

The full Patent Pending series, including all the old MT stuff as well as all future updates, will be available through our Premium service.
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jettaboy20
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 10:25 AM (#4431)
In Response to jon (#4429):

Wow, just when I thought being a premie couldn't get any better. Great news to start my weekend off right. I think i may have a few IPA's in your honor tonight Jon.
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punkalicia
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Re: You're an Evil, Evil man, Jon. (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 12:23 PM (#4435)
In Response to Incarnadine (#4424):

me too, goddamnit.

but i've been procrastinating TOO LONG.
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normiep
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Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 01:11 PM (#4436)
I actually paid money to Modern Tales specifically because of your Patent Pending. The rest of their site turned out to be very disappointing. Now the membership there is essentially worthless to me and if I want to read the rest of the series I have to pay more money here.

I realize that you folks want to make money somehow, and I respect that, but quite frankly I've now been burned, I don't have that much money, and its going to be a long time before I'm willing to put out money again for a comic strip site.

Sorry.
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scrubbo
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2, Funny)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 02:24 PM (#4440)
In Response to jon (#4429):

And it's about damn time! I fell behind on PP, and couldn't catch up because of those money grubbing MT'ers! I'd much rather catch up because of the money grubbing Jon and Phillip!

(Don't even act like you two don't strip naked and roll around on the floor in a pile of Goats Premium money!)
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jon
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 2)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 03:10 PM (#4441)
In Response to normiep (#4436):

All right, I'm calling foul on this one. You purchased a one-year membership for an anthology site and you're acting like you're surprised that the lineup changes occasionally? I had a contract with Modern Tales for six months. We ran for significantly more than that, but now the contract is up.

No one "burned" you. We're not out to get you. This isn't a conspiracy. And you have no right to be angry with us, because we didn't lie to you, or betray you, or do anything other than what we said we would.

If anything, this should be good for you -- now, when your MT membership is up, you can join Goats premium for less money (twenty bucks a year instead of thirty) and you'll get all the other content we publish in addition to PP.

I know that it's fashionable these days on the world wide internet to bitch about how poorly Website X is treating you, but really, enough with the melodrama, eh?
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zamphir
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 3, Insightful)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 03:36 PM (#4442)
In Response to jon (#4441):

Plus, there are some decent comics on MT. Granted, most of them are 'alternative' (In the GRAPHOMAXIMO sense).

But Cat Garza's stuff is excellently drawn, and interesting to read.

Vicious Souvenirs is amazing, although the story is a little slow sometimes.

Makeshift Miracle was really well done, although a bit predictable.

Return of the Green Skull is pretty.

And Gene Yang is making some big huge points with some big stompy boots. And doing it so it's not annoying. Kinda like Welcome to the Dollhouse [imdb.com].
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normiep
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 04:00 PM (#4443)
In Response to jon (#4441):

You purchased a one-year membership for an anthology site and you're acting like you're surprised that the lineup changes occasionally?
Not especially surprised, but irritated, yes, I'm irritated when the lineup that I signed up for changes. That's more of an issue to take up with them than you. It really didn't help that I ended up not liking anything else that was on the site.
I had a contract with Modern Tales for six months. We ran for significantly more than that, but now the contract is up.
That's true, you did run for 8 months, on and off for some of them. Of course I had no idea what kind of contract you had with them, I just sort of assumed that it would run through at least one subscription. Bad assumption, that's my fault.

Look, I didn't mean to accuse you of lying or having some great conspiracy. But it doesn't make it any less frustrating that I thought I paid for something and now I have to pay for it again.
If anything, this should be good for you -- now, when your MT membership is up, you can join Goats premium for less money (twenty bucks a year instead of thirty) and you'll get all the other content we publish in addition to PP.
When the thing runs out in 3 or 4 months I'll consider it.
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jon
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 2)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 04:03 PM (#4444)
In Response to zamphir (#4442):

Dammit, Zamphir, it makes it very difficult to loathe you when you start saying intelligent things.
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normiep
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 04:03 PM (#4445)
In Response to zamphir (#4442):

You know, I honestly thought some of them were going to be very good when I originally signed up, but a lot of them I just couldn't get into. A matter of taste I guess, although I think the slow updates kind of hurt my ability to get into them. Damn short attention spans.
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jon
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Re: Disappointed and a bit angry. (Score: 2, Super-Genius)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 04:09 PM (#4446)
In Response to normiep (#4443):

You'd better damn well consider it. I know where you live and I have a lot of tomato sauce.

Anyway, I'll make it up to you until those 3 or 4 months are up -- but only until then. Go take a poke around in the premium section, normiep. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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normiep
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Clever man... (Score: 1)
posted Friday, March 14, 2003 - 06:14 PM (#4448)
In Response to jon (#4446):

...now I have to buy a subscription :)

But seriously, thank you very much. I really do appreciate it.

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mcgrue
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2, Insightful)
posted Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 06:51 AM (#4451)
I don't know how many new readers you get monthly (hopefully in the larger numbers), but you may want to consider making the run up until the latest strip (prominiently figuring the flame-hairded mad-scientist type), and then put the rest into the premium section.

This way, other people that weren't following it from the get-go can become ensared in it and lured into premium memberships!

Just a thought. The more people you have paying, the closer you get to that whole 'live off of comics' dream... and it's really not unethical to give 'free samples'. Even if Patent Pending is the webcomic equivalent of Black Tar Heroin. ;)
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GreatNeb
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 07:37 AM (#4452)
This is excellent news, this makes Premium membership so much cooler, in addition it means I'm definitely gonna renew my Super Premium membership when it comes around - ask the animals questions can only amuse for so long and I'm pleased that you guys are sticking to your promises in relation to improving the benefits of membership.

Now I can gloat even more to my non-premy friends and mock them with my profaning platypus. BOOYAH!
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jon
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2)
posted Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 05:44 PM (#4454)
In Response to mcgrue (#4451):

I do want to offer a good-sized chunk for people to check out; I'm just not sure how good-sized it should be. Part of me thinks that five should be more than enough; part of me wants to do more.

I'd ask you guys for advice, but I know what the answer would be already. :)
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mcgrue
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1, Insightful)
posted Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 07:12 PM (#4455)
In Response to jon (#4454):

Well, since you're not asking, I'll just give it. >:D

You definitly have to go up until the story's first twist or so, else you've avoided the whole concept of a hook. I'd say up until introducing the human-brain-as-a-quantum-computer deal is good, but leaving them hanging like you left us was... accidental art.

Unless (Stan forbid) the strip is already over halfway over. But that's just paranoia, right? Right?!
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zamphir
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2)
posted Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 10:16 PM (#4456)
In Response to jon (#4454):

I'd think you could leave it at "But there were some... side effects.". This is what MT considers the end of chapter 10.

Maybe this is where Mcgrue meant. I think it's a good hook to end on, plus it shows people the genius of your ability to set up a pun from a long way away.

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jon
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2)
posted Sunday, March 16, 2003 - 10:19 AM (#4457)
In Response to mcgrue (#4455):

I'd say we're about a third of the way through.

But I'm not entirely sure. I know what the basic story is, but there may be some turns and twists yet to come.
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unFalln
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Sunday, March 16, 2003 - 08:34 PM (#4459)
In Response to GreatNeb (#4452):

Is BOOYAH from Patent Pending? so that's what I've been missing.

Yes, well, sorry for not supporting the whole modern tales thing, but I have always felt it more worth it to just support just these two (Captain Brunch and Patheticus) and hope some day to be able to read this other elusive comic that gets flogged on the front page all the time.


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coolhand
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Monday, March 17, 2003 - 01:52 PM (#4466)
How will this move effect premium goodies, such as the pins, stickers, original sketches? Does this mean that some of these items could now be from PP as opposed to goats?
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jon
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 2)
posted Monday, March 17, 2003 - 01:58 PM (#4467)
In Response to coolhand (#4466):

Unlikely, unless there is HUGE DEMAND.
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beracjade
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Monday, March 17, 2003 - 09:00 PM (#4480)
In Response to jon (#4457):

I know what the basic story is, but there may be some turns and twists yet to come.

do you have the same problem that a writer friend of mine does, where her characters tend to go off in directions that she didn't intend for them to, but in the end work? (i'm getting this from the implication that you don't know the whole plot right now)
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mattdm
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Re: Patent Pending Coming To Goats Premium (Score: 1)
posted Tuesday, March 18, 2003 - 12:20 AM (#4485)
In Response to jon (#4467):

Demand.
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